Letter to the Editor on "Complementary Therapies: Are These Really Nursing?"

Dear Editor:

I just reviewed the excellent online articles about complementary therapies and nursing. Kudos to the authors for the timely and insightful presentation of information surrounding complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and nursing. These articles are especially timely for me as I am in the process of preparing a presentation on integrating CAM with Family Nurse Practitioner practice for nursing graduate students.

Nurses cannot ignore the effect that CAM will continue to have on their clinical practice. Fortunately, the scope of nursing supports a pro-active change agent role in shaping the influences that CAM will have on nursing practice. CAM therapies provide an exciting opportunity to validate and expand nursing's arena of clinical practice and demonstrate nurses' ability to serve as "unique, indispensable, and economically feasible providers of health care" (Cattell, 1999).

Lisa Naegele RN, C, MSN (c)
Faculty, Everett Community College
Everett, WA

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References:

Cattell, E. (1999). Nurse practitioner's role in complementary and alternative medicine: Active or passive? Nursing Forum, 34 (3), 14-23.